


Can You Picture This

by Inell



Series: Teeny Fic Challenge [29]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Arguing, Domestic, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, F/F, F/M, Mentions of Cancer, Multi, Parental Disapproval, Polyamory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-26
Updated: 2017-02-26
Packaged: 2018-09-27 02:31:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9946247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Inell/pseuds/Inell
Summary: Making a relationship work is difficult under normal circumstances. When you add a third person, it has the potential to be chaotic.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Anonymous said: Stiles/Allison/Lydia
> 
> Hope you enjoy it, Nonnie! Teeny Fic #29
> 
> She's never satisfied (She's never satisfied)  
> Why do we scream at each other  
> This is what it sounds like  
> When doves cry
> 
> When Doves Cry by Prince

“You can’t solve every argument with sex, Stiles.” Lydia is slamming the cabinet doors in the kitchen loud enough that Allison’s not entirely sure she won’t break one.

“I didn’t realize we were even having an argument, Lydia.” Stiles is already pacing around the table in the kitchen, his fingers tugging on his hair. It’s something he does when he’s stressed, and Allison suspects that might be why he kept his hair so short when they first met. He doesn’t like having tells, after all, and that’s a big one.

“Of course you didn’t realize. You were too busy complaining about work to notice anything else.” Lydia glares at him and slams the door hard enough to rattle the glass front.

“I wasn’t complaining about work. I was telling you about my day because _you asked_.” Stiles looks at Allison and shakes his head. “She’s being ridiculous, Ali. I don’t know what I said or what I did, but she’s pissed.”

“Don’t you dare drag Allison into this,” Lydia warns, turning to face them. Her face is flushed, her mascara running slightly, and Allison can’t remember the last time she’s seen her upset. “This is between us, Stiles. You and me.”

“You’re screaming, Lydia,” Allison points out, keeping her voice gentle because she’s not entirely sure what happened. “And so are you, Stiles.”

“Fuck. Sorry.” Stiles looks at Lydia and sighs. “Just talk to me, Lyds. What did I do?”

“I shouldn’t have to tell you, Stiles.” Lydia’s shoulders slump and she leans against the counter, her hair falling around her face.

“I’m a dumbass. Alright?” Stiles looks at Allison but she’s clueless, so she can’t even give him silent encouragement this time.

“Yes, you are,” Lydia agrees promptly. “You’re so self-absorbed sometimes that it’s irritating.”

“It’s usually only when you’ve got a tough case,” Allison adds, giving Stiles a sheepish smile. He works for a special group with the FBI, so his cases tend to be stressful and difficult, not to mention nationwide. Every time he has to fly out with his team to another place, she’s relieved that she decided to pursue police work instead of federal.

“Great. Nice to know I’m a selfish asshole who can be so irritating,” Stiles mutters, looking a bit like they just kicked his puppy. Fortunately, Merlin’s actually out back with Morgana, and Allison knows that Peanut is sleeping upstairs in their bedroom since he always likes to doze in his favorite window seat, so no puppies have been agitated by the yelling.

“You’re lucky we like you anyway,” Lydia says primly, giving Allison a small smile before focusing back on Stiles. “Stop looking ridiculous. You know you’re an asshole, so it’s not news for you.”

“Well, yeah, but hearing it from the loves of my life right after I get home is a bit much.” Stiles pulls out one of the chairs from the breakfast table and sits down, long fingers carding through his thick hair again.

“Then maybe stop being such a self-centered jerk as soon as you get home from work,” Lydia suggests, refusing to give an inch. Allison can’t deny that Lydia can be difficult, they all fight sometimes and have even had really bad ‘storming out and staying gone overnight’ fights during the decade they’ve been in a relationship, but Stiles is also difficult in his own ways.

They all can be, especially with the strong personalities that they have. The important thing is that they always make up, and they talk when need to. The talking wasn’t so easy in the beginning, when they were twenty-one and not sure if they could even handle a relationship with three people, but they’ve gotten better as they get older. They still have fights that flare up but they usually calm down pretty quickly.

Like now.

“Got it. Stop being a jerk when I come home.” Stiles looks at Lydia. “So, are you ready to tell me what set you off?”

“No.” Lydia tilts her chin stubbornly, and Allison walks over, pressing a quick kiss against her lips before taking her hand.

“Don’t be like that, babe.” Allison strokes Lydia’s palm and tugs her across the kitchen to the breakfast table. “You’ve both got to give for this to work.”

“Hell, I should be mad at you, too,” Lydia mutters, giving Allison a cross look. “You came home and refused to take sides.”

“Because we agreed that we’d never gang up on each other unless we are involved in the argument from the start,” Allison reminds her, sitting down next to Stiles. She presses her knee against his before patting her thigh. “Sit and talk to us, Lydia.”

“I’m sorry that I pissed you off, but I need to know what I did to make sure I don’t fuck up again,” Stiles says, offering his own leg for her to sit on, giving her a choice.

“Of course you’ll fuck up again.” Lydia rolls her eyes and squeezes Allison’s shoulder before she sits on Stiles’ leg. “I asked you how your day went, and you started bitching about the case you’re working on. Then, instead of asking about my day, you tried to kiss me because you realized I was annoyed. As if sex would solve everything.”

“It doesn’t solve everything, but it definitely makes a lot of stuff better.” Stiles moves his hand to rest on Lydia’s hip, looking up at her through his ridiculous eyelashes, and Allison isn’t at all surprised when Lydia can’t resist that look. Stiles knows he’s sexy as hell when he does that, and it’s unfair that he can use it to his advantage so easily. When he realizes Lydia’s thawing, his lips quirk slightly, and he casually strokes the inside of her leg. “How was your day, babe?”

“Horrible,” Lydia whispers, blinking away tears as she reaches for Allison’s hand and squeezes it. “I had lunch with my mother, remember?”

“Oh, that’s right.” Stiles cringes because he probably feels like Allison does right now: guilty and pretty damn self-absorbed. Natalie has never exactly embraced their ‘lifestyle’, as she calls it, so Lydia’s relationship with her has been strained since college. Natalie at least makes an effort, sometimes, but the closeness they used to have hasn’t been the same since Lydia told her about Stiles and Allison.

“Did it not go well?” Allison asks quietly, stroking Lydia’s fingers as she bites the inside of her cheek. She and Stiles had been lucky because their dads hadn’t really cared. They hadn’t understood it, at first, but they’d still been supportive. If Natalie had done something to really upset Lydia, Allison’s totally driving to Beacon Hills tomorrow to have it out with her.

“They found a tumor,” Lydia says, tightening her grip on both of the hands she’s holding. “It’s in her left breast, so the prognosis is relatively good. The surgeon is planning a mastectomy to remove the breast, and then she’ll be undergoing treatment for a couple of months to ensure that the cancerous cells are killed.”

“Oh God.” Stiles pulls Lydia against his chest and kisses her face. “And here I was, bitching about a stupid case, and you’d had to keep that news in all day. I’m so sorry, babe.”

“That’s not the worst part.” Lydia is crying now, and Allison’s out of her chair, sitting on Stiles’ other leg, stroking Lydia’s face and trying to comfort her.

“What is it, honey?” Allison kisses her cheek, tasting salty tears against her lips. She brushes the fingers of her free hand through Lydia’s hair, rubbing circles across her scalp.

“She—she wants _us_ there,” Lydia says, raising her head off Stiles’ chest and looking at them. “She said…she said we’re her family, and she doesn’t want to go through this alone.”

“Us? Like all three of us?” Stiles looks surprised, and Allison figures her face probably looks the same. Natalie tends to pretend that Lydia’s just going through a phase or that they’re just friends because she can’t accept the true nature of their relationship.

“Yes.” Lydia sniffles. “Do you think that means she knows she’s dying? I know she told me the prognosis is good, but I can’t help thinking she’s lying to me and knows she’s only got a short time to live and so she’s trying to accept us because she won’t be here much longer. And I know she’s been terrible about us, but she’s still my mother, and I do love her.”

“Shh. Calm down, Lydia.” Allison keeps stroking her face. “Maybe she just realized that life’s too short to push someone you love away just because you don’t agree with how they choose to love.”

“Yeah. It’s got to be terrifying to be dealing with this, and surgery and everything?” Stiles shakes his head. “It might just be a wake-up call for her and not anything she’s lying to you about.”

“Will you go to dinner with her tomorrow night?” Lydia asks, chewing on her bottom lip. “I’ve been so worked up since lunch. Scared and anxious mostly. It just isn’t something I wanted to talk to either of you about on the phone so I was waiting for you to get home.”

“Of course we’ll go to dinner,” Stiles says firmly, kissing Lydia’s forehead. “And I realize now how I fucked up, so I’ll be more conscious about not focusing on myself when I should have been able to see how stressed you were.”

“We both messed up,” Lydia reluctantly admits. “I just took out some of my anger about Mom’s diagnosis on you because you made yourself a convenient target.”

“Why don’t we call in an order from Luisa’s, change into our pajamas, and watch some TV tonight?” Allison suggests, kissing the corner of Lydia’s mouth before doing the same to Stiles.

“I vote for mind-numbing action movies,” Lydia says, squeezing Allison’s hand before letting go. She smooths out her hair and wipes the tears from her face. “Preferably ones with a lot of explosions and attractive actors.”

“I’ve got a lot of those piled around,” Stiles promises, hugging Lydia against him for a moment before she stands up. “I’ll get the movies, Ali can call in the food, and Lydia can get our PJs.”

“I’ll get the dogs in and feed them.” Allison stands up, hugging Lydia tightly. “Love you,” she whispers against Lydia’s neck.

“Me too,” Lydia murmurs, kissing her neck as Stiles wraps his arms around them and hugs them close.


End file.
